Railroad-tie



A. R. STEPHENSON.

RAILROAD TIE.

APPLICATION FILED 05c. 15, 1919.

1,334,815. Patented Ma1'.23,19 20.

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ALBEBIT It. STEPHENSON, Q15 JAGKSON, OHIO.

RAILROAD-TIE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented lllar. 3, 19230,

Application filed. December 15, 1919. Serial No. 345,131..

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT R. STEPHEN- son, citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Jackson, in the county of Jackson and Eltato ofOhio, have invented certain new and useful Improvenlents inRailroad-Ties, of which the following is a. specification, referencebeinghad to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to railroad ties and particularly to a concretetie.

The disadvantage of the old wooden tie is that the weight ofthe traincauses pressure on one side of each rail with the result that the spikesbecome loosened and the rails spread. W hen the rails are adjusted tothe proper gage and new spikes applied, the old spike holes fill withwater and the tie decays in a short time.

It is therefore the object of this invention to provide a tie whereinthe rail fastening means do not receive the stress of the side pressureof the rail so that the holding power of said means is not decreased atany time.

Another object is to provide a tie composed of a pair of sectionsthrough which an adjustable bolt is passed for connecting the sectionsand adjusting the rails to the proper gage and which receives the stressof side pressure of the rails through the medium of the sections of thetie.

" means for securing the rails to the tie.

Another object is the provision of a device of this character inch dinga rail chair which prevents the rail fastening means from dama 'ing thetie.

-With these and other objects in view the invention consists in theimproved construction and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter moreparticularly described, fully claimed and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of arailroad rail 7. A. rail chair 8 is positioned within the channel andhas its longitudinal mar ginal edges 9 extending over and lying in theplane of the upper surfacoof the tie. The marginaledges 9 of the railchair have a plurality of openings 10 through which rail securing bolts11 are passed. Each bolt is provided with a clamp 12 adapted to en gagethe base of the rail. Registering openings 13 are formed in the tie forthe reception of the bolts. Embedded in each section of the tie andextending transversely thereof are a pair of reinforcing bars 14,provided with threaded openings 15 adapted to re ceive the lower ends ofthe bolts 11. The fastening bolts do not engage the tie, but thelongitudinal marginal edges of the rail chair through the medium of theclamps 12. A bolt 16 extends through the sections 5 and 6 to connect thesection in spaced relation to each other, the head of the bolt engagingone section, while the nut 18 of the bolt engages the other section.

After the tie sections and rails are posi. tioned in a road bed, if thegage of the rails is too narrow, the nut 18 may be loosened, and thesection that is out of alineinent can be manually forced outwardly by asuitable implement, beyond the proper The nut is then rotated intoengagement with the section and by holding one of the sectionsstationary, the section being adjusted can be forced inwardly by the nutand bolt to the exact gage required. Of course, the operation of forcingthe sections outwardly is only necessary when placing new rails and tiesin the road bed, the side pressure of the train has a tendency to forcethe rails away from each other. Therefore, the only adjustment that isrequired after the tie sections and rails are in position is that offorcing the sections toward each other to adjust the gage of the railswhich have been. spread by the side pressure of the train.

Thetie sections are formed by inserting the bolts without their clampsthrough the openings in the marginal edges of the rail chair, andthreading them into the reinforcing bars 14. V A core is inserted in themold to provide for the opening through which the connecting boltpasses. The parts above mentioned are placed upside down in the mold,that is with the rail chair disposed in engagement with the bottom ofthe mold, the bolts 11 being greased to prevent the adherence of theconcrete thereto. lhe first portion of concrete includes a proportion ofone to two of fine crushed gravel. The rest of the section includes arich mixture with fine crushed gravel. After the composition hasentirely set, the bolts are removed to permit the block to thoroughlycure.

One of these ties takes the place of two of the old form of wooden ties.In addition to this, all the Weight appliedto one rail is transmitted toonly one section of the tie, so that each section equall supports theWeight of the train, and therel iy eliminates the unequal application ofstress. Furthermore, the bolt that connects the sections in spacedrelation also permits the same to be adjusted to the gage desired. Eachsection of the tie is embedded in the road bed so that the danger offreezing is eliminated.

The invention having been set forth, what is claimed as new and usefulis A railroad tie comprising spaced tie blocks, having a rail channel ineach block, a rail chair disposed in said channel and having itslongitudinal marginal edges lying flush with the upper surface of theblock, reinforcing bars embedded in each block and extendingtransversely of said block, rail. engaging bolts extending throughopenings in the marginal edges of the chair, rail engaging clamps onsaid bolts, the ends of each pair of bolts being threaded into one ofthe transversely extending reinforcing bars, a bolt for connecting saidsections, the head of the bolt being engaged with the outer side of onesection, and a nut threaded on the bolt to engage the outer side of theother section whereby the gage of the rails may be adjusted.

in testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature.

ALBERT R. STEPHENSON.

